For the past number of years Brazil’s Nervosa has generally flown under the radar. While their brand of thrash has always been pretty solid, they never quite broke the plane from very good to great. Their newest release on Napalm Records, Perpetual Chaos, changes this. Nervosa just got the call up to the major leagues of extreme metal.
Guitarist and founding member Prika Amaral has always been impressive with her musical prowess, and for this newest record Prika surrounds herself with a roster full of talent that elevates the entire band’s musicality and performance. An obvious standout is Eleni Nota who’s playing on this record gives me chills as I recall listening to those profound metal drummers I grew up listening to in the 80’s:
New vocalist, Diva Satanica, seems like just the perfect fit for Nervosa, and especially for the material on this particular record. There’s more going on, musically, on this record than the band’s earlier releases and Diva’s depth of vocal and cadence compliments the music expertly.
Mia “Winter” Wallace, former member of Abbath and late of Triumph of Death, rounds out the lineup on bass.
The opener, “Venomous” is super tight and just starts this new record off so perfectly. It is a flawless thrasher that defines this band’s new, more highly-charged sound. Other tracks like “People of the Abyss” are written with an eye towards testing limits – just like hitting the gas pedal really hard on that new Camaro to “see what it can do.” Songs like this one have all cylinders running, and the band just totally delivers. It’s as if you can actually hear the sweat coming off drummer Eleni Nota as she changes tempo with ease and hits the skins hard. Vocalist Diva Satanica is able to give a performance from deep within her gut and you can’t help but get that intensity hit you right in your chest as Nervosa engulfs you sound.
Tracks like “Rebel Soul” is one of those tracks you put on as you’re driving down the empty highway on a summer night as, it features the pulsing rhythm section prominently. Of course, “Rebel Soul” also features vocals from Erik “AK” Knutson of Flotsam and Jetsam that mesh so well with Diva. That same rhythm section isn’t afraid to bring a bit of groove as well in “Pursued by Judgement.”
I’ve listened to this record so many times already and as I do, I appreciate it more and more. Nervosa has simply figured out the lineup here and this record is going to undoubtedly make a mark for years to come.
Perpetual Chaos releases January 22, 2021 on Napalm Records and is available here. First day buy.
